December 26, 2015

Another Christmas has come and gone and all that's left now is the clean up. It all goes by so quickly.

I hope that you all had a nice day and spent it how you wanted to! Ours started a bit roughly with a four hour trip to the animal urgent care, poor pup seems to have slipped a disc. :( We were able to get home just in time to open presents, finish cleaning the house, start cooking and clean ourselves up before a house full of family arrived. As everyone was saying goodbye my daughter and I were able to go and bring the poor pup home; he's got some pain meds and seems to be doing fine now. Throwing something like that in the mix makes the day seem especially crazy. I'm very much looking forward to relaxing tomorrow!

And now that it's officially the 26th...my Painting Petals class is up and registration is open! I'm really excited to share it with those of you that choose to join in. See that sideboard in the photo above? It's full of class materials, I couldn't get it all put away before company arrived and figured it looks so pretty anyway, it could stay there. I'm definitely looking forward to getting back to that fun tomorrow too.

If you want more info on Painting Petals or to sign up with early bird discount go here!

December 10, 2015

Hi! I am SO EXCITED to share this with you! I'm also super appreciative to all of you that have expressed interest and encouraged me to press on with creating my own self-hosted online classes. And of course, for your patience too; I know it took me a looooong time, but it's worth it, I promise! Super grateful for all MaryAnn's help getting this class from a thousand ideas to actually releasing. Look at the awesome promo she made, I love it and hope you do too!

At long last, my very first self-hosted online class is ready to share. I am thrilled to finally be able to present my floral based e-course, Painting Petals, to the world!

I've been infatuated with flowers for as long as I can remember. Growing them, arranging them and creating with them as inspiration. They make their way into nearly all of my artwork, whether it's in my paintings, art journals, or any number of craft projects. This ongoing life-long love affair with flowers made it a natural choice for my first online class. I can't wait to share all the methods, materials and techniques I use in my floral artwork with you!

If you follow me on Instagram, you are well aware of my never ending petal love. It's undeniable, I'm crazy for florals!

I look forward to sharing with you so many different ways you can express yourself with floral art. My hope is that by joining me in this 5-week lesson and project-based class, you'll be inspired and informed by my love of flowers and art making into creating your very own unique works of art. The imaginative drawing and loose painting I'll be teaching will bring a freedom and ease to your current artistic work. No matter your skill set, novice to professional, you'll learn how to capture leaves & petals in playful, spontaneous, original ways. Our focus here will be on impressionistic works of art; beautiful, expressive florals!

During class you'll see me create using liquid watercolors, colored inks, inexpensive acrylic craft paints, markers, pens and more. A full supply list will be furnished in class, both a general and specific list for each lesson and project. If you have any sort of an art practice now, you should be fine with your current stash of supplies. I have tried plenty of supplies and will share my favorites with you. Substitutes and alternatives are encouraged for artistic development, and the benefits of doing so will be demonstrated. We are certainly going to be breaking some rules and overriding preconceived notions!

The nitty gritty details:

A beautiful, easy to navigate class site bursting with inspiration & information

30 high-definition instructional videos

5 weeks of instruction with new lessons & projects released weekly

Detailed supply information for each lesson & project

Unlimited access to the virtual classroom and content for 1 year - until Feb. 1 2017

A private Flickr group to share your work

Class price = $145 registration opens 12/26/15 at early bird special of $120

Once you complete payment, class access information will automatically be sent via email to the address associated with your Paypal account; if you don't see it, please check your spam folder.

Pre-class content, you can get started having fun before class even begins!

You’ll need a high-speed connection, and up-to-date computer to access the classroom site. A full understanding of how to navigate a website will be useful as well as some basic understanding of how to troubleshoot unique problems that may arise with your system.

Due to the persnickety nature of everyone's computers and varying level of expertise, I am unable provide tech support beyond basic troubleshooting. I will however always make sure things are operational from my end.

All sales are final. No refunds or credits will be granted for any reason.

Please treat your password PDF like a gift certificate and keep a hard-copy somewhere safe in the event of a computer malfunction.

I hope you'll be joining me in Painting Petals! It's going to be so funnnnnnnnn!

July 29, 2015

You all are the best! I so appreciate all the enthusiasm and participation in my first ever online class, Creative Sketchbooking! I'm trying hard to stay caught up here, in the classroom gallery, on my facebook page and on instagram. Everyone has their own favorite sharing platform, and I'm trying hard to not miss anyone. If you share what you make in class on a blog I hope you'll leave a comment so we can visit! People are just beginning to upload some work (play) to the online class gallery and with the instagram hashtag #CBSketchbooking not #CBSketchbook, that's Lisa Congdon's class (which you would also like I am sure)- I know, we made it a little tricky with such a similar hashtag. We like to keep you on your toes. ;)

ED:I just went to find the gallery link and it seems that the uploads are not there anymore. Maybe the students removed them, but more likely it's something on the back end, I know they are still working on getting some kinks out, so I'll ask creativebug about it. I pinned them though, before they disappeared, so you can see them there for now. I want to pin yours, so let me know where I can find them please!

Also, don't forget that there are some contests with prizes going on for help promoting the class on your facebook, instagram, and Pinterest. Here are all the details on that. I really thank all you that help spread the word, the more successful the class is, the more future fun we can have, lol. If you repost on IG or facebook, remember to keep it there until the next Tuesday so you'll be eligible for the prize. When the new week is up, a new post and new prize begins! Again, we tried to adapt the prizes so that no one misses out by not liking a certain platform, and hey, if you like more than one and share on more than one, you just increase your chances. ;)

As for class, I'm very excited that people are willing to get a little out of their comfort zone and try something new, and possibly not quite as comfortable, in the beginning. this class is all about exercises made to stretch, not making fabulous pages from the get-go, its about trying some new techniques on in the hope you might incorporate some of the approaches into your own work as you continue on. I'm excited to see if the exercises change over the week, if we get more comfortable and make things that look different from the beginning days.

June 02, 2014

As many of you probably are already aware, my friend Mary Ann Moss has been hard at work creating her latest e-course. I'm happy to tell you sign ups have started! You can get all the info here, but I just had to show you her promo video- love it in every way. Class is going to be awesome! Can't wait until it starts July 1 (and yes, that means that now she's about ready to start cracking the whip and taking charge on mine...I'm anticipating end of summer/back to school release).

But back to the current fun in store for us all: Sketchbookery! Here are a few more shots to get you as worked up as I am:

September 23, 2013

By now you know I love Jennifer Mercede and her art too. On a daily basis she lives the life of an artist more than anyone I know. Recently, she's been up to some new heights with her art (literally and figuratively actually!)...check out her 24'x 8' mural outside The Children's Museum in Grand Rapids Michigan:

Isn't it awesome?!?!?! I'm so proud of her! I know it looks like it came together so easily, but in all honesty, she's been working hard on this for months- prep and planning, let alone the bravery to even enter such a contest, and then the execution, and the video she made with her friend?!? Seriously, so excited for her.

I hope if you are anywhere near the area, you'll stop by and say hi, and vote for her to win the contest!!! I wish I could. Especially because winning will help her to continue to share her art with the world in a big way. Plus, she's such a sweetheart, I know you'll love her like I do. If you are like me, and too far away to attend, you can help by spreading the word, you never know who might make a difference. I know she'd appreciate it, and so would I. After all, we're all in this together, pursuing a creative life and supporting others in doing so, right?

Jennifer, so, so proud of you!!! Congratulations!!! You are already the big winner in my book!!! xoxoxo

August 11, 2013

I finished a really big assignment and rewarded myself with some fun: Mary Ann's latest class, SEWN. I started watching the videos last night and fell instantly in love. I began the first assignment, searching for patterns and making my own. Of course, patterns are everywhere once you start looking. While at my son's baseball game I found these:

A quick glance around the house finds an old quilt with so many patterns:

A child's chair and rug in the background:

And another rug in the kitchen as well as the wallpaper on the island piece:

March 30, 2011

Years ago, I bought a house kit from Michelle Ward and went to town adapting it into my very own little ode-to--our-home. I remember how much fun I had working on it, joyfully obsessing over it until it was done. Just a reminder that there are so many different ways to journal/scrapbook/whatever, and endless subjects you can memorialize while doing so. Here's a quick little look into what I ended up with.

{I've asked Michelle if she's got any kits left, I'll let you know when I hear back, but feel free to go look around and while you're over at Michelle's check out the cool way she's making a big difference.}

February 27, 2010

I finally finished making my very first ever video...for me, that was HARD! A lot of learning about so many things. A lot of google how-to searches, tutorials, and how-do-you? emails. That's my disclaimer, hahaha, it's certainly imperfect, but I just had to move on! I mostly learned how much I have yet to learn; this tech stuff makes my brain mushy. {You might not want to watch it in full screen, it could be too blurry. I know, something I did in the filming, or import, or export, or uploading or blah blah blah...so many places to go wrong.} All said and done it was still more fun than frustrating though. No where to go but up as they say...